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70395, 9076, 553890, 10593075, 1260, 2473678, 45513819, 65h65, e9125492e257513a, afropavo_congensis, q338996, 13023, 4975, 114655, 102708, 70396, 9050, nhmsys0020789024, 176114, 10197106, ibc, 2473599, 75wgz, 990b91710ee7388f, pavo_muticus, q254636, 13022, t0083586, taicol, 65568, 415633, 453575, 5ef59b86, b1e8, 4831, a7d6, 6d6ca540ee47, nzbo, neotropical, 9049, nhmsys0001689593, 100180, natureserve, 176113, 70935, isc, 11160615, 1204, 9451184, 35670, euring, 6twgz, 88912, a8c34dc9655204ed, q61865, 373548, 9075, 176115, 1006898, 1259, 2473677, 45513818, qbb, q10730907, 0c670453, 1a8d, 4657, bcba, d9428f0ab835, zoobank, 145d9364, 6815, 2f86, 3f5f, d3eacc8265f9, plazi, 114654, 453587, 7f60ea6a, bc31, 4591, 809b, 415be338d998, 9048, nhmsys0020930354, 176112, 1033701, 1199, 2473598, 6js7, 88911, q3917160, identifiers, zoomusicology, category, humans, dinosaur, coexistence, organisations, wildfowl, wetlands, trust, protection, international, conservationists, scott, niels, krabbe, 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himalayan area 13 6 ma indicates that the peafowl dispersal likely occurred from asia the tibetan plateau to other continents between the late miocene and the pliocene 9 sexual selection for plumage edit see also mate choice charles darwin first suggested in the descent of man and selection in relation to sex that peafowl plumage may have evolved through sexual selection many female progenitors of the peacock must during a long line of descent have appreciated this superiority for they have unconsciously by the continued preference for the most beautiful males rendered the peacock the most splendid of living birds the peacock s train and iridescent plumage are perhaps the best known examples of traits believed to have arisen through sexual selection though with some controversy 10 male peafowl erect their trains to form a shimmering fan in their display for females marion petrie tested whether or not these displays signalled a male s genetic quality by studying a feral population of peafowl in whipsnade wildlife park in southern england the number of eyespots in the train predicted a male s mating success she was able to manipulate this success by cutting the eyespots off some of the males tails 11 females lost interest in pruned males and retained interest in untrimmed ones males with fewer eyespots thus having lower mating success suffered from greater predation 12 she allowed females to mate with males with differing numbers of eyespots and reared the offspring in a communal incubator to control for differences in maternal care chicks fathered by more ornamented males weighed more than those fathered by less ornamented males an attribute generally associated with better survival rate in birds these chicks were released into the park and recaptured one year later those with heavily ornamented feathers were better able to avoid predators and survive in natural conditions 13 thus petrie s work shows correlations between tail ornamentation mating success and increased survival ability in both the ornamented males and their offspring peacock seen from behind displaying to attract peahen in foreground multiple hypotheses involving female choice have been posited one hypothesis is that females choose mates with good genes males with more exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics such as bigger brighter peacock trains tend to have better genes example needed in the peahen s eyes 14 these better genes directly benefit her offspring as well as her fitness and reproductive success runaway selection is another hypothesis in runaway sexual selection linked genes in males and females code for sexually dimorphic traits in males and preference for those traits in females 15 the close spatial association of alleles which for loci which involved in the train in males and for preference for more exuberant trains in females on the chromosome linkage disequilibrium causes a positive feedback loop that exaggerates both the male traits and the female preferences another hypothesis is sensory bias in which females have a preference for a trait in a non mating context that becomes transferred to mating such as merle jacobs food courtship hypothesis which suggests that peahens are attracted to peacocks for the resemblance of their eye spots to blue berries 16 multiple causalities for the evolution of female choice are also possible in contrast to petrie s findings a seven year japanese study of free ranging peafowl concluded that female peafowl do not select mates solely on the basis of their trains mariko takahashi found no evidence that peahens preferred peacocks with more elaborate trains such as with more eyespots a more symmetrical arrangement or a greater length 17 takahashi determined that the peacock s train was not the universal target of female mate choice showed little variance across male populations and did not correlate with male physiological condition adeline loyau and her colleagues responded that alternative and possibly central explanations for these results had been overlooked 18 they concluded that female choice might indeed vary in different ecological conditions handicap hypothesis edit a peacock in flight zahavi argued that the long train would be a handicap amotz zahavi used the excessive tail plumes of male peafowls as evidence for his handicap principle 19 since these trains are likely to be deleterious to an individual s survival as their brilliance makes them more visible to predators and their length hinders escape from danger zahavi argued that only the fittest males could survive the handicap of a large train thus a brilliant train serves as an honest indicator for females that these highly ornamented males are good at surviving for other reasons so are preferable mates 20 this theory may be contrasted with ronald fisher s hypothesis that male sexual traits are the result of initially arbitrary aesthetic selection by females plumage colours as attractants edit eyespot on a peacock s train feather a peacock s copulation success rate depends on the colours of his eyespots ocelli and the angle at which they are displayed the angle at which the ocelli are displayed during courtship is more important in a peahen s choice of males than train size or number of ocelli 21 peahens pay careful attention to the different parts of a peacock s train during his display the lower train is usually evaluated during close up courtship while the upper train is more of a long distance attraction signal actions such as train rattling and wing shaking also kept the peahens attention 22 redundant signal hypothesis edit although an intricate display catches a peahen s attention the redundant signal hypothesis also plays a crucial role in keeping this attention on the peacock s display the redundant signal hypothesis explains that whilst each signal that a male projects is about the same quality the addition of multiple signals enhances the reliability of that mate this idea also suggests that the success of multiple signalling is not only due to the repetitiveness of the signal but also of multiple receivers of the signal in the peacock species males congregate a communal display during breeding season and the peahens observe peacocks first defend their territory through intra sexual behaviour defending their areas from intruders they fight for areas within the congregation to display a strong front for the peahens central positions are usually taken by older dominant males which influences mating success certain morphological and behavioural traits come in to play during inter and intra sexual selection which include train length for territory acquisition and visual and vocal displays involved in mate choice by peahens 23 alternate selection mechanisms edit it has been suggested that a peacock s train loud call and fearless behavior have been formed by natural selection with or without sexual selection too and served as an aposematic display to intimidate predators and rivals 24 25 this hypothesis is designed to explain takahashi s observations that in japan neither reproductive success nor physical condition correlate with the train s length symmetry or number of eyespots 17 behaviour edit peacock sitting peafowl are forest birds that nest on the ground but roost in trees they are terrestrial feeders all species of peafowl are believed to be polygamous in common with other members of the galliformes the males possess metatarsal spurs or thorns on their legs used during intraspecific territorial fights with some other members of their kind pavo cristatus vocalisation problems playing this file see media help in courtship vocalisation stands to be a primary way for peacocks to attract peahens some studies suggest that the intricacy of the song produced by displaying peacocks proved to be impressive to peafowl singing in peacocks usually occurs just before just after or sometimes during copulation 26 diet edit a green peafowl pavo muticus peafowl are omnivores and mostly eat plants flower petals seed heads insects and other arthropods reptiles and amphibians wild peafowl look for their food scratching around in leaf litter either early in the morning or at dusk they retreat to the shade and security of the woods for the hottest portion of the day these birds are not picky and will eat almost anything they can fit in their beak and digest they actively hunt insects like ants crickets and termites millipedes and other arthropods and small mammals 27 indian peafowl also eat small snakes 28 domesticated peafowl may also eat bread and cracked grain such as oats and corn cheese cooked rice and sometimes cat food it has been noticed by keepers that peafowl enjoy protein rich food including larvae that infest granaries different kinds of meat and fruit as well as vegetables including dark leafy greens broccoli carrots beans beets and peas 29 cultural significance edit indian peafowl edit the hindu god kartikeya with his wives on his peacock mount the peafowl is native to india 30 and significant in its culture 31 in hinduism the indian peacock is the mount of the god of war kartikeya and the warrior goddess kaumari and is also depicted around the goddess santoshi 32 during a war with asuras kartikeya split the demon king surapadman in half out of respect for his adversary s prowess in battle the god converted the two halves into an integral part of himself one half became a peacock serving as his mount and the other a rooster adorning his flag the peacock displays the divine shape of omkara when it spreads its magnificent plumes into a full blown circular form 33 in the tantric traditions of hinduism the goddess tvarita is depicted with peacock feathers 34 a peacock feather also adorns the crest of the god krishna 35 chandragupta maurya the founder of the mauryan empire was born an orphan and raised by a family farming peacocks according to the buddhist tradition which the ancestors of the maurya kings had settled in a region where peacocks mora in pali were abundant therefore they came to be known as moriyas literally belonging to the place of peacocks according to another buddhist account these ancestors built a city called moriya nagara moriya city which was so called because it was built with the bricks coloured like peacocks necks 36 after conquering the nanda empire and defeating the seleucid empire the chandragupta dynasty reigned uncontested during its time its royal emblem remained the peacock until emperor ashoka changed it to a lion as seen in the lion capital of ashoka as well in his edicts the peacock continued to represent elegance and royalty in india during medieval times for instance the mughal seat of power was called the peacock throne the peacock is represented in both the burmese and sinhalese zodiacs to the sinhalese people the peacock is the third animal of the zodiac of sri lanka 37 peacocks often a symbol of pride and vanity were believed by whom to deliberately consume poisonous substances in order to become immune to them as well as to make the colours of their resplendent plumage all the more vibrant seeing as so many poisonous flora and fauna are so colourful due to aposematism this idea appears to have merit the buddhist deity mahamayuri is depicted seated on a peacock peacocks are seen supporting the throne of amitabha the ruby red sunset coloured archetypal buddha of infinite light india adopted the peacock as its national bird in 1963 and it is one of the national symbols of india 38 middle east edit yazidism edit tawûsî melek lit peacock angel 39 40 41 42 one of the central figures of the yazidi religion is symbolized with a peacock 43 39 in yazidi creation stories before the creation of this world god created seven divine beings of whom tawûsî melek was appointed as the leader god assigned all of the world s affairs to these seven divine beings also often referred to as the seven angels or heft sirr the seven mysteries 43 44 45 46 in yazidism the peacock is believed to represent the diversity of the world 47 and the colourfulness of the peacock s feathers is considered to represent of all the colours of nature the feathers of the peacock also symbolize sun rays from which come light luminosity and brightness the peacock opening the feathers of its tail in a circular shape symbolizes the sunrise 48 consequently due to its holiness yazidis are not allowed to hunt and eat the peacock ill treat it or utter bad words about it images of the peacock are also found drawn around the sanctuary of lalish and on other yazidi shrines and holy sites homes as well as religious social cultural and academic centres 48 mandaeism edit in the baptism of hibil ziwa the mandaean uthra and emanation yushamin is described as a peacock 49 ancient greece edit a peacock walking freely around a zoo ancient greeks believed that the flesh of peafowl did not decay after death citation needed so it became a symbol of immortality in hellenistic imagery the greek goddess hera s chariot was pulled by peacocks birds not known to greeks before the conquests of alexander alexander s tutor aristotle refers to it as the persian bird citation needed when alexander saw the birds in india he was so amazed at their beauty that he threatened the severest penalties for any man who slew one 50 claudius aelianus writes that there were peacocks in india larger than anywhere else 51 one myth states that hera s servant the hundred eyed argus panoptes was instructed to guard the woman turned cow io hera had transformed io into a cow after learning of zeus s interest in her zeus had the messenger of the gods hermes kill argus and free io according to ovid to commemorate her faithful watchman hera had the hundred eyes of argus preserved forever in the peacock s tail 52 christianity edit the symbolism was adopted by early christianity thus many early christian paintings and mosaics show the peacock 53 the peacock is still used in the easter season especially in the east the eyes in the peacock s tail feathers can symbolise the all seeing christian god 54 the church 55 or angelic wisdom 56 the emblem of a pair of peacocks drinking from a vase is used as a symbol of the eucharist and the resurrection as it represents the christian believer drinking from the waters of eternal life 57 the peacock can also symbolise the cosmos if one interprets its tail with its many eyes as the vault of heaven dotted by the sun moon and stars 58 due to the adoption by augustine of the ancient idea that the peacock s flesh did not decay the bird was again associated with immortality 55 57 in christian iconography two peacocks are often depicted either side of the tree of life 59 the symbolic association of peacock feathers with the wings of angels led to the belief that the waving of such liturgical fans resulted in an automated emission of prayers this affinity between peacocks and angels feathers was also expressed in other artistic media including paintings of angels wi...